Cairo – If you walk past any microbus stop in Cairo, you immediately notice how badly behaved the drivers are, as they quarrel over the passengers. In the overpopulated capital, Egyptians depend heavily on such non-governmental means of transportation to commute to work. The microbus drivers are known by Egyptians as Afreet Al-Asfelt (The Ghosts of the Road), as they constantly ignore the traffic regulations. In 2008, the Ministry of the Interior amended the Traffic Law to put an end to the bad behaviour of the microbus drivers, but experts say that this has proved a failure, describing these drivers as ‘a government inside a government'. The Traffic Police, who can issue fines or confiscate their licences, are constantly engaged in a game of cat and mouse with the drivers, who never seem to change. Aliya Ahmed, a 48-year-old housewife, complains that the drivers are stubborn and never listen to the passengers. Alya says that if a passenger tells the driver to slow down, he always refuses and rudely tells the passenger to get out if he doesn't like the way he drives. One of these drivers, Mohamed Farag, says he drives fast so he doesn't get stopped at police checkpoints. Another commuter, Fathi Mohamed, commutes from Helwan to Ramses Square by microbus every day. He told the Egyptian Mail that the drivers sometimes stray off the usual route and charge the passengers double for going further. According to the traffic experts, the drivers don't usually own the microbuses. It's the owners who have to pay the fines. Microbus drivers also have a very annoying habit of stopping wherever they want, ignoring the inconvenience this causes to other motorists. Meanwhile, a unique initiative, ‘Al-Sawaq Akhlaq' (A Driver with Ethics), has been launched by Rasala, a charitable organisation, in a bid to get the drivers to behave better in co-operation with residents in Al Maadi district. The organisation's human development sector has launched this initiative in the upmarket southern Cairo district of Maadi, where the microbus drivers constantly annoy the residents. “The campaign is designed to make the drivers behave decently. What is needed is a tangible change among the drivers who react negatively towards society and governmental negligence,” according to organisers. Volunteers have been teaching the drivers to respect the traffic regulations by lowering the volume of their cassette players while driving; to park in places where it is safe for passengers to alight; to remain stationary while the passengers alight; and to wait patiently in the queue at the microbus stations. Volunteers give each driver two posters to stick in front of and behind his microbus, with details of the campaign's targets. The stickers carry the number of a hotline, which passengers can ring to complain about violating drivers. "It will surely be a good sign if we only get a few complaints," Marwa Maqsud, the media spokeswoman for Resala, told the Mail. She added that drivers would get free medical treatment for themselves and their families. Their children will get help with their schooling and they will be given clothing. "This only the beginning; we have so far dealt with 40 drivers in various parts of Maadi; we now intend to target other districts of Cairo," Marwa added.
